Shinas College of Technology Engineering Department

Unit 5: electrical circuits and Ohm’s Law

Outline Outcomes
5.1 Definition of Terms  Define and apply the concepts of electrical
5.2 Ohm’s Law currents. [15]
5.3 Electrical Energy and Power  Construct circuits and analyze their electrical
5.4 Resistors in Series currents. [16]
5.5 Resistors in Parallel  Define, construct and analyze DC circuits. [17]
 Recognize and present real life examples of the
aforementioned concept and interrelate some of
them [18]

5.1 Definition of Terms

Insulators
- Materials that do not allow the movement of free electrons easily (e.g. rubber,
glass, dry wood)

Conductors
- Materials that allow the movement of a large number of free electrons (e.g.,
silver, copper, aluminum)

Electric Current ( I ) or Current

- the movement of free electrons in a conductor or a wire
- the rate at which charge flows through a cross-sectional area of a conductor
q q
I 
t t
where
q – amount of charge, C
t – time, s
Coulomb C
- Unit:  or Ampere, A (SI)
sec ond s
- current is measured by a device known as Ammeter.

Voltage (V )
- the potential difference available from a source when connected to an external
load. It is also referred to as electromotive force or emf. Example of a source:
cells, batteries, and generators. These sources of emf maintain a current in a
closed circuit.
- Voltage sources have polarities (positive and negative side). In a Direct Current
(DC) voltage source, the polarity is constant and current flows in the circuit along
one direction only. In an Alternating Current (AC), the polarity of the source
reverses and the current flows in the circuit in one direction and then flows in the
opposite direction.

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J
- Unit: volt or V (Note: 1 volt  1
)
C
- Voltage is measured by a device known as Voltmeter.

Resistance ( R )
- the opposition or barriers to the flow of electrical charges.
- it is also a measure of the materials tendency to resist the flow of the charge.
- arises as a result of the collision between the electrons carrying the current with
fixed atoms inside the conductor.
- Remains constant over a wide range of applied voltages or currents.
- Unit: Volt/Ampere or V/A or ohms, 

5.2 Ohm’s Law

- states that “at constant temperature, the voltage across the piece of material is
directly proportional to the current through it”. It is valid only for certain materials.
- The relationship is shown mathematically as,

V  I
V  IR
V
R
I
where
V – potential difference, V
R – resistance, 
I – current, A

Ohmic materials – materials that obey Ohm’s Law over a wide range of voltages.

Non-Ohmic materials – materials whose resistance changes with voltage.

Slope = R

V V

I I

Non-Ohmic
Ohmic

Figure 5.1 Voltage and Current relation in an ohmic and non-ohmic material

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Example:

The current- voltage relationship for the resistors A, B, C and D is shown in figure 5.2.
Determine the resistance for each resistor.

Solution:
For resistor A,
V 80
R   320 
I (25  0) x10 3
For resistor B,
V 12  0
R   800 
I (15  0) x10 3
For resistor C,
V 16  0
R   1600 
I (10  0) x10 3
For resistor D,
V 16  0
R   3200 
I (5  0) x10 3

Figure 5.2

Example:
Determine the current in the 20-Ω resistor when a voltage of 10V is applied across it.
Solution:
V 10 V
I   0 .5 A
R 20 

Example:
Calculate the voltage across a 1.0-k resistor when the current through it is indicated
by the ammeter as 10-mA.
Solution:
V  IR  10 x10 3 A1x10 3    10 V

5.3 Electrical Power and Energy

Electrical Power ( P )
- refers to the amount of electrical energy consumed per unit of time.
E
P   IV
t
Where E – electrical Energy, J
t – time, s
P – power, W
I – current, A
V – voltage, V
- Unit: Joule/s or Ampere-Volt or Watt
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- Other forms of the equation for power using Ohm’s Law

P  I 2R
V 2
P
R

Example:
How many watts are used when 7500 J of energy were consumed in 5 hrs?
Solution:
E 7500 J  1hr 
P     0.42W
t 5 hr  3600 s 

Electrical Energy (E)

- measured in Joules or in kilowatt-hour (or kW-hr). Note: 1 kW-hr = 3.6 x 10 6 J

or
1 J = 2.8 x 10 –7 kW-hr
E  VI t
E  I 2R t
V 2 t
E
R

Example:

A particular electronic device uses 100 mW of power. If it runs for 24 h, how many
joules of energy does it consume?

Solution:
     3600 s 
E  Pt  100 x10 3W 24 hr   100 x10 3W 24 hr    8640 J
 1hr 

Example:

An electric heater works on 120 V and draws 3 A of current. How much power does it
use?
Solution:

P  VI  120V 3 A  360 V  A or W

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Circuit Diagram
- a diagram that shows how the circuit elements are connected with one another.

Table 5.1 Basic electrical symbols

Symbol Name Use

_________ Connecting wire To connect circuit elements

___ ___ Switch Opens or closes a circuit

___ ___ Resistor Increase or decrease the current

in the circuit

May represent the resistance of

an external load

+ – Cell Source of voltage or

electromotive force

Ground Used to prevent user contact

with dangerous voltage
if electrical insulation fails

5.4 RESISTORS IN SERIES

Series circuit
- two or more elements are said to be in series if they have only one point in
common that is not connected to some third element. The current in this circuit
can only flow through one path. Hence, the current ( I ) is the same at all points
in the circuit.

VT

V1 V2

Figure 5.3 A circuit showing two resistors in series combination.

Characteristics
1. The current in all parts of a series circuit is the same.
I  I1  I 2  ...  I n
2. The voltage across a number of resistors in series is equal to the sum of the
voltage (or potential drop) across the individual resistors.
VT  V1  V2  ...  Vn
3. The effective resistance of a number of resistors in series is equivalent to the
sum of the individual resistances.
RT  R1  R2  ...  Rn

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Example
Find the total resistance and the total current in the circuit below if V = 3V.
Solution:
The three resistors are in series. The total
resistance will be,
RT  R1  R2  Rn  10  20  30
RT  60

Figure 5.4 For the total current, Ohm’s law will be used:
V  IR
Given: V 3V
R1 = 10  R2 = 20  R3 = 30  IT  T 
RT 60
Find:
RT and IT I T  0.05 A

5.5 RESISTORS IN PARALLEL

Parallel Circuit
- one in which two or more components are connected to two common points in
the circuit. In contrast to a series circuit, there are multiple paths for current to
flow in a parallel circuit.

Figure 5.5 A circuit showing two resistors in parallel combination.

- Different paths may contain different current flow. This is also based on Ohm’s
Law.

Characteristics

1. The total current in a parallel circuit is equal to the sum of the currents in the
individual branches.
I T  I 1  I 2  ...  I n
2. The voltage drops across all branches in a parallel circuit must be of equal
magnitude.
VT  V1  V2  ...  Vn
3. The reciprocal of the equivalent resistance is equal to the sum of the reciprocals
of the individual resistances connected in parallel.
1 1 1 1
   ... 
RT R1 R2 Rn
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In case of two resistors in parallel:

The equivalent resistance (R12) of two resistors connected in parallel is equal to
their product divided by their sum.
RR
R12  1 2
R1  R2

Example

What is the total current in the circuit shown in figure 5.6?

Solution:
Using Ohm’s law
V  IR
VT
IT 
RT
Solve for RT
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Figure 5.6      
RT R1 R2 R3 5 10 30
Given: 1 1
R1 = 5 R2 = 10 R3 = 30 
RT 3
VT = 30 V RT = 3

Find: Total current

Total current ( IT ) VT 30
IT    10 A
RT 3

Exercises
Refer to Worksheet

References

Book/s:
Serway, R. A. and J. S. Faughn (2003). College Physics 6th ed., Thomson Learning,
Inc., California, USA.

Internet Source/s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_(electricity)
http://tuttle.merc.iastate.edu/ee201/topics/analysis_techniques/dividers.pdf

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